Break out your college football gear and join us at the Embassy Suites for our annual visit from Tony Barnhardt, affectionately known as Mr. College Football. Tony has completed his 48th season of covering college football for newspapers, radio, television and the internet. He was a college football analyst for eight years with the SEC Network. Before that, he was a college football analyst for CBS Sports and a reporter for ESPN’s College Game Day. And Tony spent 25 years at The Atlanta-Journal Constitution as a college football writer. He is currently writes a column for TMGcollegesports.com and is a guest host for a weekly sports radio show out of Nashville, TN.

Tony is a 1976 graduate of Grady College, the school of Journalism at the University of Georgia. He has authored five books on college football. Among the books are the autobiographies of Vince Dooley and Larry Munson. His sixth book “The 19 of Greene” was published in October 2023. Tony’s senior year of high school (1970) was the first year of full integration in the small southern town of Greensboro, GA. The book details Greene County Tigers football team’s surprisingly successful season, the enduring relationships he formed with his teammates, the challenges of school sports integration, and the positive impact this team had on the community.

Tony has received numerous awards for sports reporting and his contribution to sports journalism including:

• 1999 Georgia Sports Writer of the Year
• 2009 Bert McGrane Award (Football Writers Association of America – Hall of Fame).
• 2016 inducted into the UGA’s Grady Fellowship, signifying career achievement and contributions to Journalism.
• 2021 inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.

Tony and his wife, Maria will celebrate their 47th wedding anniversary this August 14. They are active in their church and volunteer with a number of charitable programs in the community.  They have one adult daughter who has undergraduate and law degrees from UGA. Their son-in-law is a proud graduate of Michigan State. Tony and Maria are Abba and G-Dad to two grandchildren ages 11 and 3, and are delighted they live close by so they can visit often and help with babysitting.